It is $36 for shipping and all on NoFEMA.comAnd it's $28.80 on Amazon, and eligible for Prime shipping.

I read the book cover to cover 3 times (and only seizured out and forgot it once) and it is actually quite a handy book. It is designed for the starter prepper, but even an experienced prepper will glean knowledge from it.

The book starts out by giving you a quick rundown of all the terms and phrases used in the book, as well as points out there will be no references to zombie crap. Automatic +1 by my count.

Then the Author gets right into it. Chapters on how to start assembling stockpiles quickly, planning on what to do in disaster times (loved that chapter, pencil marks all through it), water gathering and purifying chapter with a LOVELY water filter blueprint, food, comms, fuel, hygiene, first aid, fitness, defense, farming, and a LOT more are covered.

Now, the book is not designed to be the ONLY book on the shelf, but to give you a wide range of information in one book. The farming chapter, for example, gives a great deal of information but also recommends other books on agriculture. The First aid section has basic info, but also recommends other first aid books and taking first aid courses.

The section on building a LONG TERM survival community is something I read at least ten times. I love it. It mirrors a plan i have on my shelf almost exactly, and gives me new ideas. If anyone is looking for a long term plan, check this one out and glean ideas from it. Now, there is a few ideas with the plan i don't like, but that is understandable that now everyone would. Adjust your plan according to your people.

Overall, this book covers a wide range of topics and gives you enough information to get started in each subject. Like i said before, this book is best for the beginning prepper, so recommend it for those who have not started prepping or who have just started, but you can also learn a thing or two yourself in the process.

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"Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else."

OK, I moved this book up on my queue and finished it a few moments ago. What Tac said is very true (though I have not yet read it 3 times!). A lot of good material contained in the book itself with a wealth of info on additional reference material (I know I will have to get the Foxfire series for the library.) I was particularly interested in the topics of how much yield there is on crops and what a person needs as far as area to grow certain crops and how big an area is needed for various activities. I also know that Bug Out is becoming a less desirable option and need to find more like-minded people. I did jump from the second chapter to the back of the book, then went back and hit all chapters as there was a compelling interest to see the formation of site plans.

I will have to reread the section on developing the Community especially in regards to personal property, corporal punishment, banishment, reintegration (and 'golden parachutes' for former council members. It would be interesting to present this form of 'government' to a sociologist and/or archaeologist to see how such types of government have fared in the past (or would in the future.)

My curiosity was tweaked (again) with the concept of gasification as I had seen reference to it in previous books and so I have downloaded the FEMA paper on creating it and is now on a flash drive.

Richard has done a great service in getting this info assembled. It serves as both a stand alone reference in some areas but also provides additional reference material. (I would have liked to have seen a little more on snare traps included.) There were only a few places where info was either mis-referenced or a typo occured and only one mis-spelled word (that I saw!). I do like the way the book is formatted and indexed as it makes referencing much easier.

Overall, 4.75 stars. It would have been 5 stars, but the book is paperback and a tad uncomfortable hold and read unless propped up. Hard-bound would have been more ergonomic for me. I did like the fact that I can write in the margins for my own edification.

It's nice to get this feedback on my book, and I will certainly take it all to heart when I start working on the second edition (my brain is still fried from the effort in getting this first edition out, though, so it may be a while).

Regarding the chapter on forming a disaster community - that chapter was actually based loosely on the US Constitution. I tried to cover all the bases while also recognizing that there are special needs in a disaster situation (for example, the use of a coin toss to decide winners in tied elections rather than having runoff elections). Also, while the US Constitution was for organizing a large nation, the needs of smaller communities are different.

Unlike many preparedness books that have been composed with standard word processor programs, WTINF was written using the 'LaTeX' typesetting program that has been used by academics for many, many years to produce textbooks, etc. The result is that the margins, page sizes, fonts, etc were all consistent with best publishing standards. This is why I describe it as "textbook quality".

The book went through numerous editing cycles before I finally published it, so with regard to grammar and spelling it should be up to par with just about anything out there. Along the way there were entire chapters that had to be discarded and rewritten (the chapter on gardening and raising small livestock was a multi-month rewrite). You'll also notice the extreme amount of footnoting throughout the first aid chapter, because in that chapter I had to rely on the true medical experts.

I'll have to consider offering hardcover option in the future. I have not offered it as an e-book because that format does not seem to be economical for niche books, and also because I always imagined it needed most when electricity would not be available.

Hopefully "When There is No FEMA" ends up being a valuable addition to the libraries of many; and hopefully none of us will ever be in a position to need it for the circumstances it anticipates.

-RB

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Author: "When There is No FEMA - Survival for Normal People in (Very) Abnormal Times"

Got a copy of the book last week through Dahed. I tried to go through Barnes and Noble and they could not get me a copy. Thanks Dahed !

I found Tac's review very accurate and reading the Book made me remember to get my checklists in a properly type and printed form(s).

There was some info/subjects that I need to look into ( Med's/Drugs ) that I had heard of before but did not know what the actual drug name(s) were.

I need to get copies of Pa State Manuals and Laws that are used by Mayor's and Township Supervisor's. If I were to get a group of concerned people to form a Area Watch ( not Milita ) - I would want to be within the law and have some sort of "Blessing/Understanding" from the surrounding/local officials PRIOR to any SHTF or event that wiped out the effectiveness of local authorities. Wither the officials recognize our organization or think of us as nut's - if SHTF then our/my group would step in with a force to protect the community and area with some sort of acknowledgement/authority. A very small few local officials already know of the SHTF possibilities but can not officially comment or put words to paper and sign it/them.

If I did read the section on forming a "community' after SHTF correctly, I think the book version is too oppressive initially for the community, by enforcing/acting as a new "way of life" by people who were not elected in a "normal" manner by citizen approval. I do not want to be "Commandant DI", nor do I want to oppress locals in my area with a "martial Law " mentality.

I would enforce a "resident only" entry and exit - with a "Resident Voucher at Entry" and Registration/logging of any unknown Family and friend(s) at any checkpoint attempted entry.

I would not supply anyone with food/weapons or ammo within the community that did not "stand on the wall" with my group.

If I took the time to set up and supply and train with my group - I would not just hand out stuff to those in my area/community who expect us to feed them because they were too busy partying/living it up and NOT prepping in some way in the past ! I would leave some of these rats to evacuate or starve !

I would "guesstimate" that I would need a platoon size group to be in any way effective in securing this area/community. Then attempt to recruit another platoon size of residents/Citizens that have realized what is going on and "woke up" and are willing to sacrifice for the community and families. For those of you who stood guard duty when in the service - it gets "old and tired" very quickly - then think of months of guard duty and you start to get complacent and careless and want off of any duty of any kind !

I may be wrong, but without it being down on paper and several scenario's thought of and then rewrite's/re plannings - this is what I think I would handle the situation(s) !